Free Speech Goes Both Ways: Gov. Palin Has First Amendment Rights Too

Shannyn Moore is once again using Gov. Palin as an excuse to throw herself in front of the cameras.

She is condemning Gov. Palin’s attorney for supposedly violating her First Amendment rights (and on the Fourth of July to boot!) simply because he issued a statement refuting the defamatory rumors Ms. Moore was spreading and warning her to desist from spreading slander or else the Palins "will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation."

The rumors were categorically false. The FBI has stated for the record and in no uncertain terms that they are not investigating Gov. Palin or her family or her administration for anything. Ms. Moore purports to be a journalist, appears on national television and has a radio show. Journalists are not free to engage in rumor mongering and spreading demonstrably false and entirely reckless innuendo about imaginary criminal investigations.

The governor's legal counsel merely pointed out the false nature of the rumors that Ms. Moore and others were actively spreading. Ms. Moore was claiming that she knew there was a scandal. Look at what she was tweeting:


Ms. Moore writes:

Sarah Palin is a coward and a bully. What kind of politician attacks an ordinary American on the Fourth of July for speaking her mind? What’s wrong with her? The First Amendment was designed to protect people like me from the likes of people like her. Our American Revolution got rid of kings. And queens, too. Am I jacked-up? You betcha.

Ms. Moore once again resorts to name calling, the quintessential left wing argument when one has no substance.

Free speech goes both ways. If Shannyn Moore can exercise her free speech by spreading rumors, then the Palins have every right to exercise theirs by having their attorney respond to rebut Ms. Moore’s baseless rumors and issue a warning about the consequences of slander.

Shannyn Moore isn't the only one with Constitutional rights. In fact, the governor's attorney even quoted the Alaska Constitution in his press release warning Ms. Moore about the legal consequences of reporting demonstrably false stories.

And what are we to make of the fact that Shannyn Moore is now “playing the victim”? Every time Gov. Palin defends herself from her critics, Ms. Moore is the first to accuse her of playing the victim. Don’t believe me? Read here, here, here, and here. And that’s just a quick search.

Ms. Moore would like to change the conversation to deflect from the fact that she was peddling baseless rumors that 20 minutes of real journalism would have easily debunked. Instead of dealing with fact, Ms. Moore creates the strawman of victimization.

She doesn’t want anyone to ask her, “What facts did you really have to support your rumor and innuendo?” She has failed to come clean and admit she had no factual basis for her slander. The FBI refuted the story for her.

She wants to pretend her right to free speech was violated, but it's the height of irony to stand at a press conference in front of a row of cameras and claim that your right to free speech is being infringed upon. Yes, Gov. Palin is sure "bullying" you into silence, Ms. Moore.

If Ms. Moore wishes to be taken seriously as a journalist, she should investigate her stories properly and shouldn't cry when her falsehoods are exposed.